Five Facts About Veterans’ Health Care

With more than 1,400 hospitals, nursing homes and clinics nationwide, the Department of Veterans Affairs operates the country’s largest health care system. On Veterans Day, here’s a look at how it operates, who it covers and what role it plays in the larger American health care system.

1. The Department of Veterans Affairs operates the country’s largest health-care system. It has more than 1,400 health care facilities that employ nearly 15,000 doctors and 61,000 nurses. It provides care for more than 5 million veterans across the country, and it took in $50 billion in patient revenue in 2010. To put that in perspective, the country’s second-largest health care system in the country, the privately-owned HCA hospital chain, brought in $30 billion. [...]